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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Earth Day: Incoming!

The first weekend before Earth Day is coming up in just two short days! I will be attending several fun events this Saturday, April the 18th here in Oklahoma City.

Sustainable OKC and IAO are holding their Rethink:Recycle:Redesign special preview party from 7 - 11 pm on Saturday at the IAO gallery, 811 North Broadway. The RRR event is a juried art exhibit in which artists repurpose materials that have reached the end of their lifecycle. The preview party will feature a silent auction, live local music, delicious catering from local restaurants, and educational displays.

Darci Lenker, Trashy Poinsettia

Nerd that I am, I am most excited about the educational materials, which will include: Trash Factoids, Green Event Guide, Guide to Green Living, Art Class Contest, World Population DVD, and a geospatial mapping project with information about urban food deserts, 100-mile diet and sustainable dining. If you are here in OKC and interested at all in art or sustainability - you should go!

Note: Sustainable OKC is providing seed funding for our Transition Town OKC initiative, so I am a little biased. But not much.

Before the party starts, Transition Town OKC is having our "debut" event at the United Methodist Church at Mayfair Heights at 3131 NW 50th St. between May and Independence, in OKC. While Steering Committee members have spoken several times at film screenings and book groups, it was always with a carefully selected sub-population (environmentalists) who are a fairly friendly crowd. Now we will be interacting directly with the public. Wish us luck!

We have been working hard for the past two weeks to design an interesting and engaging display that balances information about the "Energy Challenge" (aka peak oil) and TTOKC. We are also being careful to avoid being prescriptive - telling people how to respond or what solutions to use - while still providing ideas and concepts about going local / resilience.

Verde - OKC is not quite the hotbed of environmentalism! I'm sure there were many tea parties here as well, and I'm not quite sure how to feel about them. I don't like funneling all the money that could have been spent on renewable energy / weatherizing houses / etc. down the throats of the banking elites - but I'm not sure what these people were protesting. Raising taxes on people making over $250K?

Wow- a whole EARTH WEEK?? I am jealous! I think there is a movie viewing of some disney 'nature' film at some theatre in Halifax... lol. I need to check into that a little more.I would LOVE to do yoga in the park for Earth Day, but I work during the day, and the evenings here are still quite cold. Hearing you speak of events prior to the actual day though is making me consider perhaps organizing an Earth Day event on the weekend.... for some reason I didn't even consider that! Thanks :)

Sounds wonderful! Unfortunately, we're going to be too busy getting ready to head out to go to any events. Oh, wait, they're all over already. The Earth Day celebration was two weeks ago in the park. Last weekend, people were encouraged to drive 30 minutes out of town to a remote location to celebrate Earth Day at Biosphere....for only a $20 admission fee. I think they missed the point.

We have not missed the irony that we will be on the road, burning carbon, on Earth Day itself.

Hi! That sounds exciting! Good luck with your presentation - I'm sure it will go smoothly. For Earth Day I'll do my usual Earth Day Lent project (haven't decided what to give up this year, but soon!) and this weekend I'm attending An Herbal Affair in Sand Springs. It's not exactly pro-enviro, but it's pro-garden, so that's a plus. And they have massive amounts of things I NEED for my garden! Have fun! :)